Julie Duffy's Blog, page 6
May 2, 2025
Day 3 | Mogadishu 2995 from P. Djéli Clark
It is the year 2995. Six hundred years after First Contact with an alien species, life on Earth has been greatly transformed. You live in the bustling space port of Mogadishu, where humans and numerous other species now call home.
The bar you own is nothing special, though you cater to the eclectic taste in beverages from over two hundred worlds. Life is mundane–as mundane as anything ever gets in this teeming metropolis of over 40 million, of which more than a third claim descent from distant star systems. Or dimensions.
That is, until the night you find a very important and powerful alien dignitary slumped over, tentacles still writhing after taking a sip of his drink–poisoned. And quite dead.
P. Djeli ClarkPhenderson Djéli Clark lives in a small Edwardian castle in New England. And he writes stuff.
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Remember: I don’t recommend posting your story in the comments here (and I talk more about why not, here). Best practice: Leave us a comment about how it went, or share your favorite line from your story.
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Prefer paper crafts? Here’s the cut & paste version
Day 2 – Check-in with Julie
Did I write my story today? watch and find out!
Want to learn how to write Flash Fiction that really flashes?Preview the first three lessons of the StoryADay Flash Fiction Workshop for free now
May 1, 2025
Day 2 | Literalizing the metaphorical by F. E. Choe
Take one to two minutes to jot down a list of common idioms, metaphors, or similes–any phrases you might consider overused or cliché.
A quick search yields examples like “paint the town red,” “playing the world’s smallest violin,” and “love is a battlefield.”
Select one and literalize it. Write a story, for example, in which your character(s) really do paint the town red. Why do they do this? What are the expected or unexpected consequences?
For bonus points, try setting challenging limits on your drafting time for this one. Can you get from an opening to an ending in two 25-minute sessions? How about in just 30 or 20 minutes?
F.E. ChoeF.E. Choe is a Canadian and Korean-American writer whose work has been published in adda, Augur, Clarkesworld, Fractured Lit, and The Moth Magazine. She is a 2023 alum of the Clarion West and Viable Paradise workshops, and an Editor at 100 Word Story. You can find her online at www.fechoe.com.
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Remember: I don’t recommend posting your story in the comments here (and I talk more about why not, here). Best practice: Leave us a comment about how it went, or share your favorite line from your story.
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Prefer paper crafts? Here’s the cut & paste version
Day 1 – Check-in with Julie
Did I write my story today? Should you?
April 30, 2025
Day 1 | Word Mining by Kim Coleman Foote
Think of a dear friend or despised enemy. Spell out their first and last names and take a few minutes to jot down as many partial or full anagrams that you can find from the letters. Tip: writing longhand might work best for this whole exercise.
Now, mull over the list of words and consider how they might relate to your person. Hold in your mind a sentence that incorporates at least one of the words. Write that sentence and build a story about your person, making sure to incorporate every single word you’ve mined, no matter how strange or quirky. Do NOT stop to edit along the way!
Kim Coleman FooteKim Coleman Foote is the author of Coleman Hill, named a finalist for the Carol Shields Prize, NAACP Image Award, and Audie Award, and long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Born and raised in New Jersey, Kim has been writing fiction since the age of seven(ish). In her spare time, she indulges in genealogy, dancing, singing, and word puzzles.
Website
Instagram/X/Facebook: @kimcolemanfoote
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
SWAGr for May 2025
Welcome to the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group!
Leave a comment telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
Download your SWAGr Tracking Sheet now, to keep track of your commitments this month
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Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
Finish first draft of story and write 3 articles for my school paper. – CourtneyWrite on seven days this month – ClareExtend my reading and to read with a ‘writers eye’- Wendywrite 10,000 words – Mary LouSo, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends!)
April 29, 2025
Post Your Goals, Join the Movement
This is it! One day to go.
Today’s task: Post your StoryADay May goals somewhere you’ll see them — in your journal, on your fridge, and share them with us in the comments, here.
Make them visible. Make them real.
And if you’re ready to go beyond just a month of stories…
Join us in the StoryADay Superstars Group open now, for:
Daily support & writing dates during MayCraft and mindset workshops, on-demand
Community accountability and support
Two Critique Week opportunities
And five more months of structure, support, and growth
Sign up today and write with confidence — not just in May, but all year long.
Let’s be honest: You could try to do it alone — again. But what if this was the year you stopped spinning your wheels and finally gained real traction in your writing life?
Superstars isn’t magic. But it does work.
Find out more and join today.
Discussion: What’s your goal for May? Drop it below — and tell us how you want to feel when you reach it!
Let’s do this — and let’s do it together.
Write A Warm Up Story
Today’s a great day to write a warm-up story before StoryADay and you’re invited to join us at one of today’s live writing dates, to get some guidance and support. 7:30 AM or 7:30 PM (Eastern US CHECK YOUR TIME). Watch your inbox for the link.
Not on the list? Join for free here and get the meeting link
Today’s promptWrite a story inspired by this image
Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning, 1950, oil on canvas, 34 1/8 x 40 1/4 in. (86.7 x 102.3 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.92Remember: If you’re planning to write a LOT of stories this month, they’re going to be short, often Flash Fiction (fewer than 1000 words). That means your story’s scope has to be narrow but deep.
You can’t tell the story of this person’s life, just the story of this moment. Everything else, you can hint at.
Warm Up – 5 minutesLook around around your space and picking out details. Think about things you can see, touch, hear, smell, and yes, even taste.
Spend five minutes writing descriptions of several of those things. Try to find new ways to describe elements that have clichés attached to them: for example, don’t say “the computer fan purred like a kitten”, instead say something like “the white noise from my computer’s fan utterly failed to mask the sounds of my mother crashing around in the kitchen below.” (Or something better that comes from your unique brain and experiences).
Invite the reader into the sensation with your words.
Brainstorm – 5 minutesThis picture depicts a moment in this person’s life.
What are they looking for (what do they desire)? What are they anticipating is about to happen and why? What will change for them if they gets what they want? How many thoughts will run through their mind as they looks out of this window?What actions do they take to distract themselves from whatever it is they’re anticipating? What has already happened, before they lean forward to look out of the window?What point of view and style of story will you choose to help readers inhabit this moment? A first-person stream of consciousness monologue? A slow, lyrical depiction of the moment? A more action driven scene that shows us all the things the main character does before, during and after this moment? A second-person reflection on what it is to wait or anticipate (“you stand at the window, bent at the waist, unaware of the dawn chorus in the long grass outside. All you can think about is…)You can’t write about all of these things, but you can choose one, two or three and have them add up to a story (think of it like a puzzle for the reader to solve).
Then come to one of today’s Zoom writing dates with me + the Superstars:
7:30 AM or 7:30 PM Eastern — your choice. (check your inbox for the links. If you’re not on the list, sign up here)
Come connect, write, and feel the power of community.
Discussion: How did you get on with your short story? How are you feeling now that May is right around the corner?
Superstars Edge: You will hit bumps during May. The difference is, the StoryADay Superstars writers have a place to land — to recover, to reset, to keep going. That’s why they finish. That’s why they grow. Join us!
April 28, 2025
Full list of Guest Writing Prompters for 2025
You really don’t want to miss out on a peek inside these writers’ brains!
Look at the wonderful roster of guest writers who are sharing ideas to inspire you, this May!
Kim Coleman FooteKim Coleman Foote is the author of Coleman Hill, named a finalist for the Carol Shields Prize, NAACP Image Award, and Audie Award, and long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Born and raised in New Jersey, Kim has been writing fiction since the age of seven(ish). In her spare time, she indulges in genealogy, dancing, singing, and word puzzles.https://kimfoote.com/
Instagram/X/Facebook: @kimcolemanfooteF.E. ChoeF.E. Choe is a Canadian and Korean-American writer whose work has been published in adda, Augur, Clarkesworld, Fractured Lit, and The Moth Magazine. She is a 2023 alum of the Clarion West and Viable Paradise workshops, and an Editor at 100 Word Story. You can find her online at www.fechoe.com.P. Djeli ClarkPhenderson Djéli Clark lives in a small Edwardian castle in New England. And he writes stuff.Mary Robinette KowalMary Robinette Kowal is the author of The Spare Man, Ghost Talkers, The Glamourist Histories series, and the Lady Astronaut Universe. She is part of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses and a four-time Hugo Award winner. Her short fiction appears in Uncanny, Tor.com, and Asimov’s. Mary Robinette, a professional puppeteer, lives in Denver. Visit at maryrobinettekowal.com.R. S. A. GarciaR.S.A. is a Nebula and Sturgeon Award winning writer of speculative fiction. She is also the winner of the Machine Intelligence Foundation for Rights and Ethics’ 2023 Media Award, and a Locus, Ignyte and Eugie Foster Award finalist.
Her Amazon Bestselling science fiction mystery, Lex Talionis, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and the Silver Medal for Best Scifi/Fantasy/Horror Ebook from the Independent Publishers Awards (2015).
She has published short fiction in venues such as Clarkesworld Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, Escape Pod, Strange Horizons, The Sunday Morning Transport, and Internazionale Magazine.
Her stories have been long-listed for the British Science Fiction Awards, translated into several languages, and included in a number of anthologies, including the critically acclaimed The Best of World SF, The Best Science Fiction of the Year, The Year’s Best Fantasy, and The Apex Book of World SF.
Her sci-fantasy duology, beginning with The Nightward, is out now from Harper Voyager US.
She lives in Trinidad and Tobago with an extended family and too many cats.
R.S.A. was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2021. She is currently in treatment and doing well. If you’d like to help, please donate to her GoFundMe organised by her friends. Jennifer HudakJennifer Hudak is a Nebula-nominated speculative fiction writer whose work can be found in venues such as The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and The Sunday Morning Transport. She is a 2018 graduate of the Viable Paradise workshop and a member of the Codex Writers’ Group. Originally from Boston, she now lives with her family in Upstate New York where she teaches yoga, knits pocket-sized animals, and misses the ocean. Find out more about her at JenniferHudakWrites.comPeyton EllasPeyton Ellas lives in rural California. When not writing, they are farming, running a micro farm animal sanctuary and creating native plant gardens as a landscape contractor. They are the author of “Gardening with California Native Plants: Inland, Foothill and Central Valley Gardens.” Their work has appeared or will appear in Milk House, Pilgrimage Press, streetcake magazine, Copperfield Review Quarterly and elsewhere. They write the (not) obsolete newsletter on substack and can be reached at peytonellas.com.Lani Diane RichLani Diane Rich is a story expert and NYT bestselling author with twelve novels published by the Big 5. She leads the Year of Writing Magically, a transformational year-long writing program that guides writers from inspiration to completion in a supportive, community-driven space. The Drafting module—running from June 21 to September 6, 2025—is a 12-week immersion designed to help writers build momentum, get words on the page, and bring their stories to life with accountability and joy.Sasha BrownSasha Brown is a Stoker-nominated writer and gardener whose surreal stories have been called “Creative! But in a bad way.” He’s in lit mags like X-R-A-Y and Split Lip, and in genre pubs like Bourbon Penn and Weird Horror. He’s on bsky at sashabrown, and online at sashabrownwriter.com.Patricia A. Jackson
Patricia A. Jackson is online here:
http://www.bybirthright.com/advocacy.htmlLori OstlundLori Ostlund is the author of Are You Happy? (Astra House, May 2025). Her novel After the Parade (Scribner, 2015) was a B&N Discover pick, a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and a NYTimes Editors’ Choice. Her first book, The Bigness of the World (UGA, 2009; Scribner, 2016), received the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award, and the California Book Award for First Fiction. Her stories have appeared in the Best American Short Stories, the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, ZYZZYVA, and New England Review, among other places. Lori has received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Award and was a finalist for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She has served as the series editor of the Flannery O’Connor Award since 2022 and is on the board of the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. She lives in San Francisco with her wife, the writer Anne Raeff. www.loriostlund.comAllegra HydeAllegra Hyde is the author of the story collection THE LAST CATASTROPHE, an Editors’ Choice selection at The New York Times and a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award. Her debut novel ELEUTHERIA was named a best book of the year by The New Yorker, shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Prize, and featured on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Her first story collection, OF THIS NEW WORLD, won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. Hyde has also received four Pushcart Prizes and the O. Henry Prize. She currently lives in Massachusetts and teaches at Smith College.
For more, visit: https://www.allegrahyde.com/
Marta Pelrine-BaconMarta is an author and artist who fuels her imagination with coffee and naps.Emma BurnettEmma Burnett is a researcher and writer. She has had stories in Nature:Futures, Mythaxis, Northern Gravy, Radon, Flash Fiction Online, Apex, Utopia, MetaStellar, Milk Candy Review, Roi Fainéant, JAKE, and more. Her favourite story this month is Rebirth of the Rain by Vivian Chou in Penumbric.
You can find Emma @slashnburnett.bsky.social or emmaburnett.uk.Neha MedirattaNeha Mediratta Chaudhuri is an independent writer, editor and consultant based in Mumbai. For more about her visit: www.nehamediratta.com
Managing home, hearth, and work, she writes about things she has mulled over for more than two decades. Her latest book is a collection of short stories, Death Chips and Love Fries which you can find here.Michele ReisingerMichele E. Reisinger’s work has appeared in Across the Margin, Stories That Need to be Told, Sunspot Literary Journal, Dreamers Creative Writing, and others. She studied English and Political Science at the Pennsylvania State University and received an MA in English Literature from the University of Delaware. She lives near Philadelphia with her family and never enough books. Find more of her writing her online at mereisinger.com.Walter LawnWalter Lawn writes poetry and short fiction. His work has been published at The Bangalore Review, On the Run Press, Heartwood Literary Magazine, Every Day Fiction, and Lily Poetry Review. Walter is a disaster recovery planner, and lives outside of Philadelphia.Tim WaggonerTim Waggoner is a Four-Time Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author
Website: www.timwaggoner.com
Blog: http://writinginthedarktw.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/tim.waggoner.9
Twitter: @timwaggoner
YouTube ChannelGrant FaulknerGrant Faulkner is the co-founder of 100 Word Story, the co-host of the Write-minded podcast, and an executive producer on America’s Next Great Author.
He is the author of The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story.
Listen to his podcast Write-minded and subscribe to his newsletter Intimations: A Writer’s Discourse.
WriteMinded Podcast
Substack
GrantFaulkner.com
InstagramJulie DuffyJulie Duffy is a writer who likes to think she is funny. She is the host of StoryADay May and, sometimes she juggles and knits, though rarely at the same time.Rich LarsonRich Larson was born in Niger, has lived in Spain and Czech Republic, and is currently based in Canada. He is the author of the novels Annex and Ymir, as well as over 250 short stories – some of the best of which can be found in his collections Tomorrow Factory and The Sky Didn’t Load Today and Other Glitches. His fiction has been translated into over a dozen languages, among them Polish, French, Romanian and Japanese, and adapted into an Emmy-winning episode of LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS. His latest book, Changelog, is now available for preorder. Angela SyvaineAngela Sylvaine is a Bram Stoker Award nominated author and self-proclaimed cheerful goth who writes speculative fiction and poetry. Her dark cheerfulness is on full display in her novel, Frost Bite, a ‘90s sci-fi horror comedy, and her retro ‘80s YA mall slasher novella, Chopping Spree. Her goth side is fully explored in her debut short story collection, The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls.
Angela’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in over sixty anthologies, magazines, and podcasts, including Southwest Review, Apex, and The NoSleep Podcast.Rachel BoltonRachel Bolton is a Bram Stoker Award Nominated writer. Her work has appeared in Apex Magazine, Women Write About Comics, Strange Girls, and more. She lives with her cat in Massachusetts. You can follow her on Bluesky @raebolt.bsky.social and find out more at her website: https://rachelmbolton.wordpress.comJulia ElliottJulia Elliott’s Hellions arrives in April 2025. She is also the author of the story collection The Wilds, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and the novel The New and Improved Romie Futch (both from Tin House). Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Tin House, Conjunctions, Granta (online), and the New York Times. She has won a Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award, and her stories have been anthologized in Best American Short Stories and Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. She teaches English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina and lives in Columbia with her husband, daughter, and five hens. Her new story collection ‘Hellions‘ came out in April 2025.John WiswellJohn Wiswell is a disabled writer who lives where New York keeps all its trees. He won the 2021 Nebula Award for Short Fiction for his story, “Open House on Haunted Hill,” and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Novelette for “That Story Isn’t The Story.” He has also been a finalist for the Hugo Award, British Fantasy Award, and World Fantasy Award. He is the author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In, a Year’s Best pick by NPR and The Washington Post, and Wearing the Lion, and he can be found making too many puns and discussing craft on his newsletter, johnwiswell.substack.com.
Now out: the paperback edition of SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN and you can pre-order his new release (coming in June 2025) now: WEARING THE LION Tiffany Yates MartinTiffany Yates Martin is a career book editor, working with
bestselling and award-winning authors, major publishers as well as indie authors. She is the founder of FoxPrint Editorial (www.foxprinteditorial.com, a Writer’s Digest’s Best Website for Writers) and author of Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing and The
Intuitive Author: How to Grow & Sustain a Happier Writing Career.
A regular contributor to writers’ outlets and a frequent presenter
and keynote speaker for writers’ organizations around the globe,
she is also the author of six novels (as Phoebe Fox).Julie DuffyJulie Duffy is a writer and the host of StoryADay May. She loves to poke around places she used to live.Gabrielle JohansenGabrielle writes fantasy and super soft sci fi from her NC home. She has been published in Haven Speculative and Across the Margin. As a regular at StoryADay, this is her fifth time participating in the challenge.Kai LovelaceKai Lovelace is a writer and musician born and raised in New York City. Links to his work can be found here.Julie Duffy
Julie Duffy
In 2010 Julie was a frustrated writer, who decided that writing a StoryADay in May would be a great way to kickstart her writing practice. 16 years later, it seems she was right. The rest of the writing world quickly caught on and now May is known as Short Story Month! Julie is the author of writing handbooks, articles, podcasts, workshops and courses, as well as a short story writer, and ‘Book Boss’ — your accountability coach for getting to ‘the end’.
Choose Your May Mood
Earlier this month I asked you to think about what kind of mood you like in stories
Today I’m asking you to consider the mood, or ‘vibe’, you want to create during the May challenge.
Are you aiming for:
Experimental?Ambitious?Playful?Energized?Confident?Focused?‘Determinedly outrunning your perfectionism and getting something written’?What do you want to feel on May 31 when you look back at your month?
Journal about it, and then post your target ‘vibe’ below in the comments. Let it set the tone every time you start a writing session).
Tomorrow: Join us (and the Superstars!) for one of two Zoom writing dates — 7:30 AM or 7:30 PM Eastern US (CHECK YOUR TIME). Come and experience the energy of writing together. (Watch your inbox for the link. I”ll send it in the hour before the meeting starts)
Superstars Invitation: Want to guarantee you’ll finish May with that feeling? StoryADay Superstars provides the scaffolding you need to keep your vibe high — and your stories flowing — long after the initial excitement fades. Then, we’ll spend the next five months building on that success to create a writing habit that fits your life today, not ‘some day’.
